A style guide for people who speak English oddly (Between You and I: a Little Book of Bad English - James Cochrane)

Member Name: gooeyuk

Product:	Between You and I: a Little Book of Bad English - James Cochrane
Date:	31/05/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It doesn't take up much room on the bookshelf

Disadvantages: Odd choice of "problems" and too short.

"Between You and I" is another of the very many books that illustrates how the author believes the English language is being misused and subverted.

It is written in the style of a dictionary, with words or phrases that the author deems to be "wrong" listed and a paragraph or two saying what he believes is wrong with them.

The book is a short one, in my volume stretching to 125 pages. And there is the seat of the problem. The author has chosen the words and phrases he considers most of a "problem". But it bears little relationship to how most of use English. I consider myself to be reasonably adept at English, but it has really not occured to me that the word "recrudescence" is "quite often" used incorrectly or that the word "careen" is a problem either.

The author is quick to recognise that English is not a language that can be cast in stone and it doesn't have fixed rules of grammar or usage. And I actually like style guides - I find the Fowler brothers' books excellent even though they are over 50 years old. The problem is that this one is either not representative of actual English usage or it is too short. Or both.

Of course any style guide is simply and expression of the preferences and niggles of the author(s). Unfortunately this author's preferences and niggles don't match mine.

The author also has an unfortunate tendency to point out what is wrong with the usage he objects to rather than pointing out what would be (in his opinion) correct usage. This makes the book sound more like a rant against "Bad English" (his phrase) rather than a guide to "good" English.

For what it's worth, I find Bill Bryson's "Troublesome Words" a better style guide. It's more comprehensive and written with better humour.

Incidentally, as the author points out, it should be "between you and me".

The paperback edition can be had for around £5-£6.

Summary: Too short to be comprehensive and too eclectic a choice of words and phrases to be useful